SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE EVOLVE TV REPORT
JULY 1, 2026
ORLANDO, FLA. AT WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
STREAMED ON TUBI
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Peter Rosenberg, Blake Howard
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Correspondent: Chuey Martinez
-KevOnStage recapped Succession III and announced the matches he’d set up for tonight, including Gianna Capri vs. Layla Diggs, Braxton Cole vs. Harlem Lewis, and The Mog Squad vs. WWE ID 1.0.
(1) LAYLA DIGGS (w/Masyn Holiday) vs. GIANNA CAPRI
Anya Rune was shown seated in the VIP Lounge, looking like she was forced to be there. Capri started the match with a headlock takedown, but Diggs returned the offense in kind, showing off her incredible athleticism. Capri countered Layla’s athleticism with pure aggression. She pie-faced Diggs while she ran her mouth at Rune, which left Diggs the opening she needed to take back control of the match. Capri yanked down Diggs by the hair, then went to the corner. Instead of climbing the turnbuckle, she gave Rune a dirty look on the outside. Rune stood and yelled, “I am going to punish you!” then threw her hands forward like she was going to release some hateful ball of magic in what I’m assuming is some kind of anime thing, but nothing happened. She did it again. Nothing. Capri looked at Rune like she had lost her mind. When she turned around, she ate a pele kick from Diggs, which she followed up with her beautiful floating moonsault for the win.
WINNER: Layla Diggs at 4:38.
(Miller’s Take: Okay, so Anya Rune is a little weirdo who thinks she has magic anime powers, but she’s still kinda cute. Capri definitely has the heel attitude down, but so far I’ve not seen anything that really sets her apart from the rest of the locker room. Diggs, on the other hand, has star written all over her. This was likely the last time we’ll see Masyn Holiday, who quit wrestling altogether with the honest admission that her heart wasn’t in it.)
-After the match, Rune looked down at her hands fretfully, wondering what had happened to her magic elf powers. As Diggs and Holiday danced their way to the back, an angry Braxton Cole burst out of the entrance, whining about the contract he was holding. He complained that the DQ stipulation to his match was applied without his consent. Harlem Lewis ran out and blasted him from behind before they cut to a single commercial break. [c]
(2) BRAXTON COLE vs. HARLEM LEWIS – No Disqualification Match
The referee called for the bell when they returned from the break. Lewis smacked Cole in the back with a baking sheet. Cole saw a cane lying on the VIP couch, grabbed it, and broke it over his opponent’s back. Cole asked a “fan” for the belt from around his waist and used it to viciously whip Lewis, who took off his own belt and tanned Cole’s hide with it. Cole jabbed Lewis in the throat with a tennis racket (Jim Cornette was smiling somewhere). On the outside, Cole found a pool cue to jab Lewis with. Harlem fired back up and threw Cole into the ring, who immediately whacked Lewis in the shoulder with another baking sheet. Cole found a mop, mocked Lewis with it, then broke it over his back. Ouch. Lewis mopped Cole’s groin with it, then broke the handle over Cole’s back. Cole begged off, but Lewis stuck the brand-new dry mop into Cole’s face, then hit the Boomslang for the win.
WINNER: Harlem Lewis at 7:10
(Miller’s Take: This was a pretty satisfying no DQ match. The spot where the pool cue pinned Harlem’s arms back was contrived as could be, and the clean dry mop spot was silly, but those shots with the mop handles were vicious. Both guys took a heck of a beating, and the brutality level hit the sweet spot.)
-After the match, Evolve Champion Aaron Rourke came out and applauded Lewis for his win. Rourke thanked him for being there for him in recent battles and said he wanted to thank him by granting him a title match. He said he’d talk to Foreman Thatcher, then shook Harlem’s hand. Lewis held onto Rourke’s hand for a few moments while the two men stared at each other.
-In a pre-taped promo, Sloane Jacobs gushed about new Evolve Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons. She said she’d host a championship coronation party that would be unforgettable. [c]
-Chuey Martinez introduced Kale Dixon. He said he suppressed his ego from the first time he walked through the doors of the PC, but now everything is different. He proceeded to cut a heavily booed heel promo. Martinez asked about his blonde business partner from last week. Dixon introduced her. She said Evolve was about to change forever. Suddenly, the lights went out, the strobe lights flashed, and DarkState’s Cutler James came out. James gave more than a side eye at Dixon as he walked past him to the ring. Before the lights came up, It’s Gal suddenly landed a springboard dropkick onto James. He threw James out of the ring, donned his pink shades, and exclaimed, “It’s Gal!” as he flexed.
(3) CUTLER JAMES vs. IT’S GAL
The referee called for the bell when James made it back into the ring. Gal threw some fists and a kick before James planted him on his face. Gal came back with a flying legscissors takedown off the top rope, followed by a fancy codebreaker variation for a two-count. James came back to deliver a big swing, then a pop-up uppercut for a near fall. James applied an abdominal stretch and dug his fingers into Gal’s noticeably sunburned chest. Ouch. Gal reversed it and went for another flying headscissors takedown, but James caught him with a huge buckle bomb, followed by Dark Matter (a spinning fallaway slam) for the win.
WINNER: Cutler James at 4:51.
(Miller’s Take: Good match that got off to an exciting start. I really expected Gal to even the score with this match, but the storyline of the egomaniacal underdog continues. I anxiously await Gal’s next self-pitying, over-the-top promo spot as he laments losing while referring to himself as the greatest thing since sliced bread at the same time.)
-Speaking of promo spots, we were treated to one from Elijah Holyfield. He warned Brooks Jensen that their story wasn’t finished yet. He threatened to knock him out. [c]
-In Foreman Thatcher’s office, Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins were complaining about Tate Wilder costing Riggins their match against Dar & Moreno. Riggins demanded a match against Wilder, and Thatcher said he’d call Stone to arrange it. Security Viktor Zanov and Shido Ash approached to intimidate Riggins and Hendrix, but Thatcher called his dogs off. As they started to leave, Thatcher told his security he wanted a word with them. He asked them what they thought they were doing, tackling and injuring people, so he fired them. They asked to just wrestle, but Thatcher said he refused to reward them for being fired. They said they’d do whatever they want, whenever they want, and walked off. Thatcher admitted to himself regretfully, “I’ve made an error.”
(4) THE MOG SQUAD (Jacari Ball & Santi Rivera & C.J. Valor w/Max Abrams) vs. MARCUS MATHERS & CAPPUCCINO JONES & SAM HOLLOWAY – Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match
Rivera squared off against Mathers to start the match. The two men traded headlock takedowns before Mather swung the match his way with a slick side kick. He tagged Holloway, whose ribs were heavily taped after going into the ring steps hard last week. Holloway hit an impressive springboard elbow from the outside in the ring, but it visibly hurt him as he tagged out immediately afterward. The action briefly went to the floor before Valor and Jones took their turns in the ring. The Moggers briefly took control with some double team maneuvers before Jones made the hot tag to Mathers, who went to town on all of The Mog Squad. He got them all out of the ring where they huddled together and waited for Mathers to come off the top turnbuckle to take them all out. Back in the ring, Ball hit a stiff superkick on Mathers. Ball and Rivera executed a Hart Attack with a slingblade variation for the first elimination of the match.
ELIMINATED: Marcus Mathers by Santi Rivera at 5:26.
Holloway thumped on Rivera while selling his ribs before Ball took the tag. The Mog Squad kept Holloway isolated in the corner and took turns driving shoulders into his ribs. Holloway landed a double clothesline, then made the hot tag to Jones, who took out all of his opponents before hitting a Froggy Brew elbow on Ball, but the pin was broken up. Ball and Rivera landed a different Hart Attack variation on Jones for the next elimination.
ELIMINATED: Cappuccino Jones by Santi Rivera at 8:16. [c]
Holloway used his incredible strength to hold off his opponents until Valor executed an impressive Chaos Theory for a near fall. He attempted a pin, but the other Moggers distracted the referee. Holloway caught Ball as he leaped off the ropes to deliver a massive chokeslam but kept selling his ribs. Rivera hit a sit-up flapjack for a two-count. Holloway came back with a big double chokeslam to Rivera and Valor, who rolled out of the ring. Abrams jumped up on the apron, but Holloway knocked him back down to the floor. Holloway amazingly flew over the top rope with a suicide dive that took out all four Mog Squad members. Back in the ring, Rivera and Ball lifted Holloway as Valor hit the Valor Spike for the final elimination.
ELIMINATED: Sam Holloway by C.J. Valor at 13:03
WINNERS: The Mog Squad in a clean sweep at 13:03.
(Miller’s Take: The clean sweep was a surprise to me, but now I’m assuming there will be a rematch for ID 1.0 to avenge this one-sided affair. Holloway looked very impressive and did a great job of selling his “injured” ribs throughout the match.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This show had the best flow to it that I’ve seen in Evolve thus far. They seamlessly wove segments into matches and took us on a fun one-hour ride this week. No appearance from our new women’s champion, but we did get the promise of something cheesy next week with Sloane Jacobs promising an all-out celebration for Big Kat Kita. At nearly a season and a half of the newly resurrected WWE version of Evolve, we’ve seen people like Kendal Grey and The Vanity Project go from wrestling in front of a few dozen people at Evolve tapings to winning big gold in NXT, so it’s fun to predict who will be taking NXT by storm this time next year. See you next week!
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